NHTSA Complaint #10140213 — 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS

PURCHASED 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS - VIN # JTD KB2 OU1 530 793 29 ON JULY 20, 2005 -REGISTERED IT TO MY WIFE KRISTA GOTTLIEB. ON JULY 22, 2005 WHEN THIS CAR HAD ABOUT 80 MILES ON IT, I WAS DRIVING IT ON THE HIGHWAY IN TRAFFIC AT ABOUT 50 MPH - WHEN SUDDENLY I LOST COMPLETE POWER. BY THAT, I MEAN THAT THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS COMPLETELY UNRESPONSIVE. I AM NOT AWARE OF WHAT THE INSTRUMENTS INDICATED AS I WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH THE TRAFFIC (FOR MORE DETAILS - I SENT A VERY DETAILED E-MAIL ABOUT THE FAILURE TO OUR DEALER CULLIGAN TOYOTA, AMHERST, NY ON JULY 24, 2005 - I HAVE ALSO SENT ADDITIONAL FOLLOW-UP E-MAILS TO CULLIGAN SINCE THAT DATE. ). AS A RESULT OF THE JULY 24 MESSAGE, I ARRANGED TO LEAVE THE CAR WITH CULLIGAN TOYOTA SERVICE ADVISOR STEPHEN DESOTELL ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2005 TO BE CHECKED OUT. AT ABOUT 3:00 P.M. ON JULY 27 STEPHEN CALLED ME TO TELL ME THAT THEY HAD CHECKED OUT THE CAR AND COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH IT IN ANY WAY '' MECHANICAL OR COMPUTER OR ANYTHING. HE SAID THAT IT HAD THE LATEST SOFTWARE AND THAT THERE WERE NO OUTSTANDING SERVICE BULLETINS OF RECALLS FOR THE CAR AND THAT IN HIS DISCUSSION WITH TOYOTA, IT WAS SUGGESTED TO HIM THAT I MUST HAVE INADVERTENTLY HIT THE ''POWER'' BUTTON ON THE DASHBOARD - OR WORDS TO THAT EFFECT. SUBSEQUENTLY I TESTED THE CAR AND FOUND THAT I COULD NOT TURN OFF OUR PRIUS BY DELIBERATELY PUSHING OR HOLDING THE POWER BUTTON IN. BY CALL TO THE ABOVE SERVICE ADVISOR SINCE THEN, HE LATER CONFIRMED THAT THIS WAS CORRECT - THAT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO ACCIDENTALLY OR DELIBERATELY SHUT ANY PRIUS DOWN BY HITTING THE POWER BUTTON WHILE THE CAR WAS IN MOTION UNDER POWER. WE HAVE HAD NO REPEAT OF THIS EVENT. HOWEVER, THE FAILURE HAPPENED TO US IN HEAVY TRAFFIC WHEN I WAS IN THE PASSING LANE WITH TRAFFIC ON MY RIGHT AND ONCOMING TRAFFIC ON MY LEFT AND A HIGH-SPEED CAR APPROACHING ME FROM THE REAR - AND I HAD NOWHERE TO STEER TO! IT WAS VERY FRIGHTENING AND WE COULD HAVE BEEN HIT FROM BEHIND. *NM